Hey, Toronto – take this

Thursday, March 7, 2013
Also: A 'lawsuit waiting to happen' / When Chavez tempted Chicago / 'Angry Birds' freed

Downtown Toronto skyline, 2013'I’D RATHER BE THE 500TH MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN CHICAGO THAN THE KING OF CANADA.' Neil Steinberg reacts in the Sun-Times to news the population of Toronto is now larger than Chicago's.
* Also in Chicago's favor: We have the Blackhawks.
* And a citywide bike swap.
* And Peter Sagal of "Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!" (but not when he was 25 years old).
* And dead body photos.
* The Onion: "Bostonians buzz about their daily routines in a delightful hubbub of excitement as if they lived in a major American metropolis."


'A LAWSUIT WAITING TO HAPPEN.' That's one community activist's response to a Sun-Times analysis that concludes 9 in 10 of the Chicago Public School students potentially affected by school closings this year are black.
* Commission report: Chicago can sustain closure of 80 schools – more than seven times the maximum yearly total so far.
* Protesters gather outside Uptown alderman's office to oppose "War on the Poor."


Fresh news quiz tomorrow. Missed last week's? Here you go.

 
THE FILIBUSTER THAT ATE WASHINGTON. The Atlantic boils down almost 13 hours of Sen. Rand Paul's anti-drone monologue into a few key highlights.
* Filibuster fueled in part by tweets from fans.
* Obama's food-based political strategy bringing Paul Ryan to lunch.
* Fact-checkers singe presidential pants.
 
'CHÁVEZ WAS TRYING TO EMBARRASS PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH. ... OR HE GENUINELY CARED ABOUT THE POOR PEOPLE OF CHICAGO.' The Reader's Ben Joravsky recalls a time when Venezuela's president offered the CTA millions of dollars worth of free gasoline.
* WBEZ's Achy Obejas translates 2011 speech in which Hugo Chávez discussed likelihood he'd been poisoned by the U.S.
* Is Chávez's chosen successor, his vice president, the real deal – or just a "Mini-Me"?
 
ANGRY, BUT FREE. The original "Angry Birds" game is now available at no charge for the iPhone and other mobile devices.
* After 6 months, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer gets bonus for ... One. Million. Dollars.

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